Althea sighed as the rest of the recruits poured in. Mira had given her a rundown on them back in the ball. A few of them were sons or daughters of rich merchants. A few were here wearing hand-me-downs. And others had spent years of wages on their clothes.

'Nathan' and 'Vanessa' both stood out in their rags. The two of them were trying really hard to not let their identities leak.

"Hello." she said, giving a smile and hiding her fatigue. The people expected a noble Countess, not a tired eighteen-year-old.

I am sure you are wondering why you are here." she said. The crowd fidgeted, a few nodding. Poison boy just stared at her.

"I have brought you here for a very simple reason." she continued. "During the ball, my familiar noticed that you have talent, enough talent for me to give you a manual." she said to hundreds of gasps and opening mouths. But she continued before they could interrupt.

"I am sure that you have heard that the Diery family has only one manual." A lot more people nodded. Althea once again contained before people could interrupt.

"Well, you heard wrong. The Diery family has simply been unable to use our original manual for well over a thousand years. That problem has been solved." she finally said.

A few rows of expectant eyes looked at her. "The Emperor has granted me permission to start an academy, right here in Deadre. The academy is new, it does not have professors or a reputation, and won't for a while. But I can give one thing, a cultivation manual."

Althea picked up the manual her family had cultivated with the past thousand years. The manual had very easy requirements. As long as you had at least one of the natural elements, you could cultivate it.

"I already know you can use this manual." she said. "If you choose to use it, you will be beholden to spend three years in the Diery army on graduation as payment for the manual and the academy resources. Do you accept?"

The people before her practically jumped at it. The offer was better than one they would probably see in their entire life. Not a single one refused.

"Are you not taking it?" the woman she had selected first said. The one with a lot of talent for the sword.

"Oh, we're not compatible." Vanessa said.

"But the Countess said…"

"Nathan and Vanessa are from a foreign country, here to seek refuge in the Solerian Empire. The two of them can already cultivate, so you do not need to worry about them." Althea added.

The people present flipped the manual's page one by one. The thing had the same handwriting as the manual Althea had used. And the same way to activate them. The same person probably wrote both of them.

After they were done, Althea told them to stay in the palace as long as they wanted. The academy wouldn't even have a building for a week, but she had a hunch that at least a few of them had relatives that wouldn't be very happy that they had this opportunity.

The professor thing was an added headache. Perhaps she should ask Queen Elara for some. Hmm, asking an enemy Queen for people to teach her army. Yes, she needed sleep.

Althea looked at the Empress, not sure how to broach the subject.

"Oh, I will be here for the night. The unwanted guests might have stopped, but there is still danger." the Empress said. Althea nodded, heading towards the bed and plopping down awkwardly. Sleeping when someone was watching, guarding her, was awkward. Steward Ven had done it before, but she had fallen asleep before…

Althea woke up to the sun glaring at her. What? Oh, she must have fallen asleep.

A note was on the table beside her, sitting next to a sleeping Pulsie. Well, she thought he was sleeping, he was too plant for her to tell. But droopy leaves were usually an indication of him sleeping.

I let you sleep, you looked quite tired and this is the seclusion anyway. Try to read up during this period, the library has a lot of information you will need in the coming court. I doubt most people expect you to breakthrough anyway, you will have plenty of time to breakthrough after. Just remember that life is long, my niece.

Empress Nerusia Solerian.

So, the Empress thought she should spend the seclusion reading. Althea had a similar plan. The first book, the cultivation manual she was cultivating.

Althea walked towards the sofa where it lay, looking a bit too vulnerable. How she was supposed to feel safe with this garden in her room, she wasn't sure. Althea was used to more walls and less space.

The manual's second page opened without much worry. The power within tingled as she opened the next page, but did not react other than that. The first page had details about how to plant her familiar and establish a telepathic connection. Althea slotted the second part for later, but the first was probably not going to happen.

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The second page had information on how to cultivate. There were three methods that seemed to focus on three different types of mana. The first, 'sun mana' was simply to get it from the air, apparently spinning it before absorbing would increase how much she took in. The second, 'land mana' had to be absorbed from the land, the planted familiar could funnel it to her.

And finally the third, she was pretty sure this was her type, the ones that had both types. The trick was to do both. A planted familiar was supposedly crucial to maintaining a decent cultivation speed.

Althea wasn't going to force Pulsie to lose his mobility. But…she should probably tell him about this. The plant was already hard to move around, it would only get worse as she grew more powerful.

The page had a little note on the bottom 'do not turn till Apprentice stage'. Althea turned the page, she was an Apprentice. The manual sent a tingle through her body, but did not react. So it did check.

The page, finally, had spells. A shield spell, a propelling spell and a capturing spell. The page also had a note on the bottom asking her not to turn till she was a Journeyman. And telling her that she should try to improvise. The Apprentice stage was apparently good for that. Althea wondered if the book knew that most people spent decades at this stage.

But she had three spells to practice. Althea stepped into the garden, her fingers tingling in excitement. The first spell. A shield. Althea had to pull mana into concentric circles that resonated with each other.

Mana answered her call, falling into place. But it was difficult to maintain. Althea built the outer circle, then the inner and then the next, but by the time she built the ninth, the mana was too unstable. The manual said to only spin the mana after the entire shield was built so that it resonated from within and be more powerful.

Althea sat down on the bench, stretching her hand and calling on mana. The mana responded as she built a mini shield. The mana was easier to control in the smaller quantities, just as she predicted. The rings formed, and she set a plate in the middle. A total of five rings and one plate went onto the circular shield, barely fifteen centimeters in diameter.

Althea smiled, so easy. Not to do a bigger one. Althea tried again, but the result was the same as before. Well, that was a bummer. Althea made a smaller shield, spinning it on her finger. Magic was so weird. A change in size could make such a big difference. Althea spun the shield into the air, calling on mana from the wind.

The big shield could wait, she was going to have fun. If spells wouldn't give that to her, she would just use normal magic. The wind was just as excited as yesterday to play, whistling through the garden at her call. Althea controlled it, a smile on her face. How could she not be. The bloody wind was answering her call. The stuff of legends. Magic.

Althea let the wind run through the trees, standing up as she walked through the brick path. The plants and trees swayed with her, or rather the wind as she howled, running around the garden, the shield still with it. Althea giggled and called the shield back.

The shield jerked, coming back. The wind still howled around, her influence on the surrounding mana powerful enough to keep it going. Hmm, she had other elements, didn't she. Earth, she hadn't tried that one.

Althea called on Earth, wanting it to do something, like the wind immediately wanted to flow places. The Earth just kept still. Althea frowned. Why wasn't it- wait, no, she was stupid. Of course, the Earth wanted to lie around, it was land. That was what it did the entire day.

Althea plopped onto the grass instead, laying on the ground to feel the mana. The grass felt prickly on her face, the soil wet and cold. But there was mana there. Two types of it. The first was hard and still, laying there as if a silent support that could burst at any second. And another, the second source she had begun absorbing from the staff.

Althea closed her eyes, slipping into the world of mana. The mana was nourishing, it flew into the grass, the trees, and then to the wind before slowly falling back down in water vapor. Where the other mana was lively and excitable, like the howling wind, this one was gentle and quiet.

Althea felt like she had left her body. The mana took her on a trip, letting her the tip of every leaf in the garden. The cool dew on it. The peaceful and invigorating world of land mana. A powerful, satisfying feeling filled her as she hummed to the tune of the mana. And then she stood up, and then the more volatile mana called to her. The 'sun mana'.

The air howled in reply, twirling around her as it carried water to her. The water flowed, like a slower, gentler cousin of the wind…that apparently liked to turn into sharp pieces of ice. Fire roared to life, but remained away from the trees. The Earth reached out, rocks shooting out. The elements circled in the sky.

The elements cycled in the land. Two parallel worlds, one of excitement and youth, another of quiet and retiring peace. Two worlds working together. The mine shield stood in between the two, the combined mana more distinct to her than it had been before. And in that moment, Althea knew what to do.

The mana had told her. The sun mana formed the rings on the outside, the land mana expanded from the inside, the two working to expand the shield.

The shield expanded to a meter and diameter, glistening a beautiful green in the air. And then she began spinning. The mana seemed to come alive, crackling with power as she controlled it to spin in front of her. The shield produced its own funnel of mana, and had its own presence on the battlefield.

And she was sure she could use it as a Frisbee to kill someone. Althea let the mana disperse in a bright explosion, the mana funneling into her core. The mana really was easier to absorb after spinning it around a bit.

A particular plant was staring at her when she turned back towards the room. How she knew he was staring, she wasn't sure, but there were just too many leaves angled towards her.

"How long have you been awake, Pulsie?" she asked, smiling.

"A while," he answered. "Did you start learning spells without me?"

The plant actually sounded hurt. Well, he did like mana.

"Yes…" she answered. "I was just a bit too excited."

"Do you want to hear about it?" she asked. The plant's leaves nodded their approval, and Althea launched into her tale.

The plant listened carefully as she tried to describe how she felt, how she sensed the elements and the emotions around them. Mana wasn't alive, that would be silly, but it did seem to have a nature. A way of working. An inclination. And she found it very enjoyable.

Perhaps it was her druid class, or some other thing, but she felt very close to the elements. And clearly the elements were close to her.

Althea told Pulsie about what she had read in the manual. The plant became very quiet when he heard about how planting him would help her cultivation speed.

Althea stopped talking, waiting for his opinion.

"I think we should do it." Pulsie finally said.